The invention relates to gaskets and more particularly to composite gaskets of metal and a relatively compressible material.
A wide variety of sheet gasket materials have been used for internal combustion engines and the like in the past. Such gaskets have been made of metal, of relatively compressible materials such as sheets of cork, rubber, asbestos, or the like or of composites thereof.
Composite gaskets of metal and compressible materials have generally been formed by clinching substantially the entire abutting surfaces of the layers together or by joining such surfaces with adhesives. The former construction is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,349 to D. E. Czernik and commonly assigned herewith. Other such constructions are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,720,406 and 2,152,630. While such constructions are desirable in many applications they are not readily adaptable to gaskets wherein the compressible material is not coextensive with the metal core and/or wherein the metal core is not essentially planar.
Adhesively secured composite gaskets are not entirely satisfactory because of the operations required to assemble them, the frequent substantial drying and curing time of the adhesives and the resulting handling problems and the tendency of many adhesives to release in storage at elevated temperatures and/or under high humidity conditions.
One type of composite gasket with which the foregoing difficulties have been particularly evident is the one-piece cylinder head gasket for both banks of cylinders in a "V" block engine as generally shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,001,518. As will be appreciated, the use of a metal body with a compressible facing adhesively secured thereon in the sealing areas would involve several manufacturing difficulties. For example, stacking of the assembled gaskets prior to the complete drying of the adhesive tends to cause the compressible facing to slip from its initial location.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved composite gasket structure using secured superimposed layers of metal and compressible materials.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a structure which is satisfactory for use in an one-piece intake manifold gasket for both banks of cylinders in a "V" block engine.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such a gasket which is easy to assemble and not adversely affected by normal maufacturing, storage and handling methods.